[71.20] Circumstellar disks in T Tauri binary systems

R.L. Akeson (ISC/Caltech), E.L.N. Jensen (Swarthmore College)

Most stars are members of binary systems, yet binary
formation is still poorly understood, and in particular,
poorly constrained by observations. Here we present
millimeter-wave continuum images of four wide (separations
210--800 AU) young stellar binary systems in Taurus. Most
resolved binary observations at millimeter wavelengths to
date have been of systems with anomalously large fluxes and
have often been of triple or quadruple systems. Our sample
(DK Tau, HK Tau, UX Tau, and V710 Tau) consists of more
moderate-flux systems (35--75 mJy at \lambda = 1.3 mm) and
may be more representative of typical young binary systems.

For all sources, the resolution of our observations is
sufficient to determine the emission from each of the
components. In three of the four systems, the primary star's
disk has much stronger millimeter emission than the
secondary. These observations allow us to estimate the
circumstellar disk mass for each star; these masses are
compared to predictions from binary formation theories and
correlated with other properties such as stellar mass and
accretion signatures.

This work was performed in part at the Interferometry
Science Center, California Institute of Technology. ELNJ
acknowledges the support of the National Science
Foundation's Life in Extreme Environments program through
grant AST 9996278.